Have you ever opened up to anyone about your private relationship with pornography? Despite the common knowledge that the use of porn, particularly online, is nearly ubiquitous—according to 2010 statistics compiled by OnlineMBA.com, 25% of search engine requests are for porn and over 28,000 people are looking at online porn at any given second—few of us think or talk about it honestly. In the internet age, although porn is easier than ever to access, it is also easier to consume surreptitiously before “x-ing out” and deleting the web history. If the statistics are even close to correct, most of us are consenting cogs in the wheels of the porn industry’s massive turnout, yet we often show a very different face to the public than the one we put on when we are alone with adult entertainment. The gap between our intimate moments and our public reactions to porn is rarely bridged with conversation or dialogue. Consent aims to close the gap between what we think about porn and what we say—to collapse the space between the “them” of the porn industry and the “us” of the consumer.
Lynsey G, a copywriter, reviewer, interviewer, columnist, and blogger writing for and about porn since 2007, has one foot in and one foot out of the adult entertainment industry. As something of a middle-man between porn insiders and consumers, she has spent years talking, thinking, and writing about porn with friends, foes, performers, directors, and everyone in between. Consent features video interviews with both consumers of pornography and the people who make it, along with footage from dozens of adult films. Exploring such topics as porn’s relationship to body image, sexual behavior, addiction, performer and consumer consent, piracy, sex as performance, personal and private identity, and more, Consent includes interviews with several anonymous sources; performer and director Sinnamon Love; multiple AVN Award–winning performer, artist, and author Oriana Small; actress, exotic dancer and film producer Brittany Andrews; performer and entrepreneur Nyomi Banxxx; MakeLoveNotPorn.tv founder Cindy Gallop; artist, activist, writer, and performer Madison Young; performer, director, and producer Mr. Marcus; performer, model, and activist April Flores; veteran screenwriter Daniel Reilly; Fleshbot.com owner, writer, and sex educator Lux Alptraum; performer, writer, and musician Danny Wylde; entrepreneur, director, and performer Kelly Shibari; and performer Natasha Starr; and the show’s curator, Lynsey G.
Image of Sinnamon Love courtesy of Vivid.com.